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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | VOL. 162, NO. 29 | www.dailytrojan.com
MONDAY , OCTOBER 8, 2007
By SARAH DADA
Daily Trojan
Eating, putting on makeup, reading and texting
behind the wheel are driver distractions that are
commonly considered a red light in the rules of the
road. But as bike crashes continue to be a problem
on campus, safety officials are blaming multitasking
while biking and suggesting students apply the les-sons
learned in driver’s education while pedaling the
streets of South Los Angeles.
“First and foremost, safety should be paramount.
Students talk on their phones and listen to their
iPods with both ears covered, and they don’t really
have the full attention they should when operating
a vehicle,” Department of Public Safety Capt. John
Thomas said.
Eleven crashes have already been reported since
the start of the fall semester as compared to 16 re-ported
accidents in all of 2006 and 13 reported
crashes in 2005. Incidents involving car crashes with
bikes are also increasing. Thomas said none of these
crashes have been fatal within the past year, but car
crashes involving bikes do happen about once every
week.
The main problem areas, DPS officials and bike-riding
students said, are the heavily trafficked in-tersections
at Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock
Avenue, and Jefferson and Hoover Street.
DPS says students should be aware that
road rules for cars apply to bikers as well.
Distractions
key cause of
bike crashes
| see crash, page 6 |
By DINA DIAZ and KATIE DURKO
Daily Trojan
The Los Angeles International Air-port
is using the dissertation work
of a former USC doctoral student to
help modify security measures.
USC alumnus Praveen Paruchuri,
who earned his doctorate in May
from the Viterbi School of Engineer-ing,
developed a computer algorithm
that LAX is now using to make its
law enforcement vehicles’ patrol pat-terns
unpredictable.
Paruchuri said he developed an
algorithm, which tells a computer
through a mathematical formula how
to determine a solution for every in-put,
to randomize law enforcement
agencies’ patrol routes.
“Instead of patterns being predict-able,
they become unpredictable,”
Paruchuri said.
The software prevents potential
terrorists from isolating repetitive air-port
police patrols, thereby thwarting
potential terrorist attacks, said James
Butts, deputy executive director of
Airport Law Enforcement & Protec-tion
Services at Los Angeles Worlds
Airports, the agency that operates
LAX.
“The key here is that you must ran-domize
your response but maximize
your knowledge in your deployments
of the terrorists’ behaviors, and then
weigh those factors and assumptions.
You should also minimize factors of
habit,” Butts said.
LAX officials have been testing the
software in a pilot program since Au-gust
at checkpoint deployments on
a full-time basis, Butts said. He said
the software has been successful in
randomly generating algorithms, so
it is difficult for anyone to determine
the ascribed pattern of the software.
The testing period is expected to
continue for about six more months,
Butts said. If the pilot program con-tinues
to be successful, LAX officials
said they might use it to randomly
deploy explosive-sniffing dogs in the
airport.
Paruchuri’s original dissertation,
titled “Keep the Adversary Guessing:
Agent Security by Policy Randomiza-tion,”
was concerned with the security
of multiagent systems.
In his dissertation, Paruchuri de-veloped
a mathematical formula that
pits enforcement agents against oppo-nents
— much like in video games —
to develop optimal strategies for the
agents. He applied his work to ran-domized
police patrols in burglary-ridden
neighborhoods.
Paruchuri’s dissertation adviser,
Milind Tambe, then suggested that
Paruchuri focus his dissertation on
randomizing schedules because Al
Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks exploited the reli-ability
of airport schedules.
Tambe led a team of eight research-ers
over the summer to tailor Paru-churi’s
work for LAX police patrols.
The research team included Fernando
Ordóñez, a USC assistant professor
in the department of industrial and
systems engineering, and Sarit Kraus,
a computer science professor from
Bar-Ilan University in Israel, as well
as Ph.D. and graduate students.
Tambe said Erroll Southers, an as-sociate
director of USC’s Center for
Risk and Economic Analysis of Ter-rorism
Events, brought Paruchuri’s
dissertation to the attention of LAX
officials. Southers saw Paruchuri’s
work and “had the vision that it had
applicability at LAX,” Tambe said.
Paruchuri, who now works at an ar-tificial
intelligence research company,
said although he was somewhat sur-prised
that his dissertation was used
by Department of Homeland Security
experts, he was extremely happy be-cause
students’ work is not frequently
applied to that area of study.
“It was really wonderful to see
one of my students go out there and
achieve great things. It was a moment
of great joy and pride for me,” Tambe
said.
Officials hope software will
make airport patrol car
routes unable to track.
USC dissertation puts LAX security to the test
Stanford pulls off unbelievable upset
Stanford receiver Mark
Bradford caught a touchdown
pass from quarterback Tavita
Pritchard with only 49 seconds left
in the game to upset then No. 2
USC in one of the most stun-ning
defeats in school history.
John David Booty threw for
ELATION AND EXASPERATION
See page
16 »
364 yards and two
touchdowns, but the of-fense’s
five turnovers, in-cluding
four interceptions
How it works
• Paruchuri’s algorithm tells
a computer through a
mathematical formula how to
determine a solution for every
input.
• The algorithm randomizes
the law enforcement vehicles’
patrol routes, preventing po-tential
terrorists from isolating
routine police patrol patterns.
making a racquet ‘Son’ shines
A new biographical documentary
about Kurt Cobain sheds new
light on the late Nirvana front
man’s life and legacy.
USC sophomore Robert Farah
won eight matches in six
days to reach the finals of the
All-American Championships. 16 7
» »
opinion |
Current laws only
protect spoken
words, failing to hold
private companies
accountable, writes
columnist Elizabeth
Kenigsberg.
PAGE 4
LIFEST YLE |
LoveLikeFire, the
San Francisco
group known for
its independent
approach to music,
hits the Viper Room
tonight. PAGE 8
by Booty, proved
too much for the
defense to handle
in a 24-23 defeat.
Eric Wolfe | Daily Trojan

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | VOL. 162, NO. 29 | www.dailytrojan.com
MONDAY , OCTOBER 8, 2007
By SARAH DADA
Daily Trojan
Eating, putting on makeup, reading and texting
behind the wheel are driver distractions that are
commonly considered a red light in the rules of the
road. But as bike crashes continue to be a problem
on campus, safety officials are blaming multitasking
while biking and suggesting students apply the les-sons
learned in driver’s education while pedaling the
streets of South Los Angeles.
“First and foremost, safety should be paramount.
Students talk on their phones and listen to their
iPods with both ears covered, and they don’t really
have the full attention they should when operating
a vehicle,” Department of Public Safety Capt. John
Thomas said.
Eleven crashes have already been reported since
the start of the fall semester as compared to 16 re-ported
accidents in all of 2006 and 13 reported
crashes in 2005. Incidents involving car crashes with
bikes are also increasing. Thomas said none of these
crashes have been fatal within the past year, but car
crashes involving bikes do happen about once every
week.
The main problem areas, DPS officials and bike-riding
students said, are the heavily trafficked in-tersections
at Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock
Avenue, and Jefferson and Hoover Street.
DPS says students should be aware that
road rules for cars apply to bikers as well.
Distractions
key cause of
bike crashes
| see crash, page 6 |
By DINA DIAZ and KATIE DURKO
Daily Trojan
The Los Angeles International Air-port
is using the dissertation work
of a former USC doctoral student to
help modify security measures.
USC alumnus Praveen Paruchuri,
who earned his doctorate in May
from the Viterbi School of Engineer-ing,
developed a computer algorithm
that LAX is now using to make its
law enforcement vehicles’ patrol pat-terns
unpredictable.
Paruchuri said he developed an
algorithm, which tells a computer
through a mathematical formula how
to determine a solution for every in-put,
to randomize law enforcement
agencies’ patrol routes.
“Instead of patterns being predict-able,
they become unpredictable,”
Paruchuri said.
The software prevents potential
terrorists from isolating repetitive air-port
police patrols, thereby thwarting
potential terrorist attacks, said James
Butts, deputy executive director of
Airport Law Enforcement & Protec-tion
Services at Los Angeles Worlds
Airports, the agency that operates
LAX.
“The key here is that you must ran-domize
your response but maximize
your knowledge in your deployments
of the terrorists’ behaviors, and then
weigh those factors and assumptions.
You should also minimize factors of
habit,” Butts said.
LAX officials have been testing the
software in a pilot program since Au-gust
at checkpoint deployments on
a full-time basis, Butts said. He said
the software has been successful in
randomly generating algorithms, so
it is difficult for anyone to determine
the ascribed pattern of the software.
The testing period is expected to
continue for about six more months,
Butts said. If the pilot program con-tinues
to be successful, LAX officials
said they might use it to randomly
deploy explosive-sniffing dogs in the
airport.
Paruchuri’s original dissertation,
titled “Keep the Adversary Guessing:
Agent Security by Policy Randomiza-tion,”
was concerned with the security
of multiagent systems.
In his dissertation, Paruchuri de-veloped
a mathematical formula that
pits enforcement agents against oppo-nents
— much like in video games —
to develop optimal strategies for the
agents. He applied his work to ran-domized
police patrols in burglary-ridden
neighborhoods.
Paruchuri’s dissertation adviser,
Milind Tambe, then suggested that
Paruchuri focus his dissertation on
randomizing schedules because Al
Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks exploited the reli-ability
of airport schedules.
Tambe led a team of eight research-ers
over the summer to tailor Paru-churi’s
work for LAX police patrols.
The research team included Fernando
Ordóñez, a USC assistant professor
in the department of industrial and
systems engineering, and Sarit Kraus,
a computer science professor from
Bar-Ilan University in Israel, as well
as Ph.D. and graduate students.
Tambe said Erroll Southers, an as-sociate
director of USC’s Center for
Risk and Economic Analysis of Ter-rorism
Events, brought Paruchuri’s
dissertation to the attention of LAX
officials. Southers saw Paruchuri’s
work and “had the vision that it had
applicability at LAX,” Tambe said.
Paruchuri, who now works at an ar-tificial
intelligence research company,
said although he was somewhat sur-prised
that his dissertation was used
by Department of Homeland Security
experts, he was extremely happy be-cause
students’ work is not frequently
applied to that area of study.
“It was really wonderful to see
one of my students go out there and
achieve great things. It was a moment
of great joy and pride for me,” Tambe
said.
Officials hope software will
make airport patrol car
routes unable to track.
USC dissertation puts LAX security to the test
Stanford pulls off unbelievable upset
Stanford receiver Mark
Bradford caught a touchdown
pass from quarterback Tavita
Pritchard with only 49 seconds left
in the game to upset then No. 2
USC in one of the most stun-ning
defeats in school history.
John David Booty threw for
ELATION AND EXASPERATION
See page
16 »
364 yards and two
touchdowns, but the of-fense’s
five turnovers, in-cluding
four interceptions
How it works
• Paruchuri’s algorithm tells
a computer through a
mathematical formula how to
determine a solution for every
input.
• The algorithm randomizes
the law enforcement vehicles’
patrol routes, preventing po-tential
terrorists from isolating
routine police patrol patterns.
making a racquet ‘Son’ shines
A new biographical documentary
about Kurt Cobain sheds new
light on the late Nirvana front
man’s life and legacy.
USC sophomore Robert Farah
won eight matches in six
days to reach the finals of the
All-American Championships. 16 7
» »
opinion |
Current laws only
protect spoken
words, failing to hold
private companies
accountable, writes
columnist Elizabeth
Kenigsberg.
PAGE 4
LIFEST YLE |
LoveLikeFire, the
San Francisco
group known for
its independent
approach to music,
hits the Viper Room
tonight. PAGE 8
by Booty, proved
too much for the
defense to handle
in a 24-23 defeat.
Eric Wolfe | Daily Trojan